1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transport container for use in safely transporting products.
2. Background of the Related Art
Some products are temperature sensitive and hence may require either being kept cool or being protected from chilling during transit. Further, transported products also need generally to be protected from physical shock. The present invention also relates to a transport container for transporting such sensitive products (e.g. laptop computers).
In addition, the container of the present invention is constructed such that it can be collapsed into a space saving, flattened configuration when empty, and hence can be easily stored and moved prior to, or after, holding any transportable contents. Moreover, the collapsible container of the present invention is typically constructed of materials that can be recycled and thus are ecologically friendly.
Examples of products that need to be kept cool whilst being transported from place to place, for example by postal or courier services (particularly from a manufacturer or distributor to a consumer), include frozen food products, pharmaceutical and biochemical products (including diagnostic agents), and organs for transplantation.
Examples of products that, by contrast, need instead to be protected from chilling during transport (particularly, for example, from freezing as part of air cargo), include heated foodstuffs and further pharmaceutical products, as well as blood products.
Both types of goods conventionally have been transported in thermally insulated, rigid containers such as boxes fabricated of polystyrene foam. However, polystyrene boxes can be fragile and are expensive to manufacture, as well as being space-inefficient.
As an alternative, the applicant""s co-pending International Patent Application No. PCT/GB99/02225 (published as WO 00/03931) describes an improved transport container that comprises an insulating block and a plurality of layers of flexible insulating foam material forming sides of the container. The plurality of layers are mounted on the block, which closes one end of the container, and an outer pressure envelope is also provided to apply pressure around the exterior of the sides and the block. Although, such a container can be made of materials that can be recycled, and is therefore more environmentally friendly as compared to polystyrene boxes, disadvantageously this prior container is still bulky and thus difficult to store when not being used to transport products.
French Patent Application No. 7808251 (published as FR-A-2419884) discloses a rigid container comprising sides having at least two layers of sheets of plastic material laminated with metal, which provide thermo-insulation of any contents. However, because the sheets are metallized, the container cannot be collapsed and remains in a bulky, non-collapsed state even when no contents are held.
It is hence an aim of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned disadvantages of these prior containers, by providing a transport container that is both compact to store when empty, may be composed of materials that can be recycled, and whose components are also easy to manufacture and to construct.
It is a further aim that the container should also provide a space efficient outer shape when full of transportable products, so that the number of containers that can be transported per given transit space may be maximized.
Thus, a transport container according to an embodiment of the invention includes
a rigid liner collapsible in a direction transecting the vertical axis of the container, such that the container is configurable between a non-collapsed state (for holding transportable contents therein) and an at least partially collapsed state (for compact storage when empty);
an elastic insulation means surrounding the liner; and
one or more rigid, insulating plug(s) for insertion inside the liner when the container is in its non-collapsed state.
The liner provides a means for altering the shape of the container between collapsed and non-collapsed configurations, whereas the surrounding insulator provides the container with appropriate additional thermal and physical protective insulation properties. Goods can be stored safely inside the non-collapsed liner, which is kept in such a configuration by one or more plug(s), once the latter have been inserted.
Tension in the container""s sides helps to provide rigidity, the latter property being important to insulate the contents from physical shocks. Further, because the insulation means is elastic, the entire container can collapse when the plugs are removed, allowing the container to be compactly stored when empty. The partially collapsed container can then be further flattened.
To keep a product as cold as possible during transit, the pre-chilled product may be placed inside the non-collapsed container together with a desired quantity of xe2x80x9cdry icexe2x80x9d in granulated, sliced or chunk form.
However, if the product is only required to be kept moderately cool (but not frozen) or indeed warm, instead of surrounding the product with xe2x80x9cdry icexe2x80x9d, a separate sealed bag containing a refrigerant, or warmed liquid, respectively, can be placed inside the container together with the product.
The insulator means preferably comprises a plurality of layers of flexible material, so as to increase its thermal and physical insulation properties.
Before and after the container has been used for transporting the goods, the plug(s) can be removed, as mentioned above, allowing the container to be flattened by an operator into its space saving, collapsed configuration. In this way, multiple flattened containers can be stored or transported without taking up substantial room.
In a second aspect, the present invention provides a kit for assembling a collapsible transport container as described above comprising:
at least one of said liners, each being surrounded by said insulation means;
at least one of said plug(s); and
at least one pressure envelope.
The pressure envelope may be used, in an assembled container, to apply pressure around the exterior of the sides of the container.
The components of such a kit can easily be manufactured and assembled according to the present invention, which provides a method of either constructing such a transport container, or assembling the kit, including the steps of:
placing the liner in its collapsed state around a flat mandrel;
winding a plurality of layers around the outside of the liner;
removing the partially constructed container from the mandrel;
bonding (for example, heat shrinking) at least part of a pressure envelope around the outside of the plurality of layers with the liner still in its collapsed state;
opening the liner into its non-collapsed state;
inserting at least one plug inside the liner to maintain the non-collapsed state of the container; and
bonding (for example, heat shrinking) at least another part of the pressure envelope to the at least one plug.
Thus, in one embodiment, the fully constructed container has an optional pressure envelope that, when present, is preferably bonded (in separate stages) to both the outermost of the plurality of layers of the elastic insulation means and to the at least one plug. In this way, such a container provides a simple and effective way of very securely sealing the contents inside, since the envelope""s pressure increases the tensioning of the container walls. Further, sealing the container involves no use of tapes and so forth that can become unstuck and that are often tricky to apply or re-apply.
Furthermore, by sealing a complete outer envelope around such a container, the latter is provided with a tamper evident security feature which can easily be monitored.